Order 2012

- 2

- 17 Served: February 22 , 2012



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 22nd day of Febr uary , 20 1 2

ORDER EXTENDING SERVICE OBLIGATION

Summary By this O rder, the Department of Transportation extends the Essential Air Service (EAS) obligation of Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways

Hol dings and doing business as Frontier Airlines (Chautauqua), at Rhinelander, Wisconsin, for an additional 30 days, through April 9 , 2012.

Background On September 12, 2012, Chautauqua filed a 90

- day notice with the Department of its

intent to terminate its unsubsidized service at Rhinelander effective December 11, 2011. By Order 2011

- 10

- 15, issued October 20, 2011, the Department prohibited Chautauqua from suspending service through December 11, 2011 and requested proposals from carriers interested in provi ding replacement service.

At the request of several interested carriers and with the support of the community, we extended the due date for proposals from N ovember 18, 2011

, to December 5, 2011. We received a proposal for EAS at Rhinelander by the extend ed due date and b y Order s 2011

- 12

- 1

, 2011

- 12

- 16 and 2012

- 1

- 36 extended Chautauqua’s service obligation through March 10 , 2012. T he carrier transition may not be completed by

March 10

, 2012 , the end of the third 30

- day hold

- in period. In accordance with

4 9 U.S.C. 41734(c), we must extend Chautau qua’s service obligation for an additional 30 days, or until replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first.

This O rder is issued under authority assigned in 14 CFR 385.12(k)(5). Essential Air Service at :

RHINELANDER, WISCONSIN

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. D ocket DOT

- OST

- 2011

- 0109- 2

-

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We r equire Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings and doing business as Frontier Airlines , to maintain its current level of service

at Rhinelander, Wisconsin , as set forth in Appendix A, for an addi tional 30

- day perio d through April 9

, 2012, or until a carrier capable of providing reliable EAS actually begins service, whichever is first 1 ;

2. We direct Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings and doing business as Frontier Airl ines to retain all books, records, and other source and summary documentation to support subsidy claims for payment, and to preserve and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits its audit and examination by representatives of the Depart ment. Such documentation shall be retained for seven years or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. The carrier may forfeit its c ompensation for any claim that is not supported

under the terms of this Order ;

3. This Docket will remain open until further Order of the Department; and

4. We will serve copies of this O rder on the parties listed in Appendix B;

Persons entitled to pe tition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR 385.50, must file such petitions within ten (10) days after the date of service of this Order

.

This Order will be effective immediately, and the fi ling of a petition for review shall not preclude its effectiveness.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN

Director Office of Aviation Analysis

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available

on the World Wide Web at h ttp://www.regulations.gov

1 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Chautauqua’s service obligation for successive

30

- day periods as necessary until replacement service actu ally begins.Appendix A

Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., d/b/a Frontier Airlines

Provision of Essential Air Service at Rhinelander, Wisconsin Summary of Service To Be Provided

Effective Period : Beginning December 1 2 , 201 1 until further Department action

Sch eduled Service : 13 nonstop round trips each week to Milwaukee Aircraft type: Embraer 135 (37

- seats) or Embraer 145 (50

- seats)

. Intermediate stops and upline service : No service to any other intermediate point is contemplated under the

terms of the carrie r’s proposal; accordingly, no such service may be provided on subsidized flights without prior Department approval. Timing of flights: Flights must be well

- timed and well

- spaced in order to ensure full compensation.Appendix B

SERVICE LIST

Chautauqua Airlines, Josh Pascoe

Frontier Airlines, Daniel Shurz Rhinelander/Oneida County Airport, Joseph Brauer